Jessica Floyd, a 4/5th teacher at Astor K8 School in Portland, Oregon, wanted to bring the Oregon Trail and Western Migration to life for her students. Instead of relying on the classic computer game, she envisioned a hands-on experience that would deepen their understanding of this pivotal time in American history. Recognizing the potential of cross-curricular content with social studies, engineering design, robotics and coding to engage her students, she reached out to the PPS Learning Tech team for support.
The challenge? To recreate the Oregon Trail right in their classroom! Teams of students were tasked with designing and building their own miniature covered wagons, complete with attachments to be towed by a Sphero Bolt robot. But this was no ordinary wagon train. Students also had to collaboratively map out the 2,000-mile trail on the classroom floor, incorporating key landmarks like Chimney Rock, Independence Rock, and Fort Laramie.
"I wanted to move beyond traditional lessons and give my students a deeper understanding of the hardships and problem-solving faced by pioneers," explains Floyd. "By incorporating coding and robotics, they could actively participate in the journey and develop critical 21st-century skills."
This innovative hands project integrated social studies, coding, art, engineering, problem-solving and collaboration. Students not only learned about the Oregon Trail but also developed computational thinking skills, such as decomposition, pattern recognition, and algorithmic thinking.
Bring history to life in your classroom! Explore the possibilities of using Sphero robots and other educational technologies to engage students in authentic learning experiences. You can learn more about the Learning Tech Innovation Library to check out your own set of Spheros and see what trails your students can blaze today!
Technology used: Sphero Bolt robots, Sphero Edu app, (for block-based programming) Chromebooks
Standards alignment:
- ISTE Standards: Computational Thinker, Creative Communicator
- Triple E Framework: Engagement, Enhancement, Extension
- Content Standards: Social Studies (Westward Expansion), Math (measurement, geometry)
PPS Instructional Framework Connections
- Deeply Engaging Student Indicators 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10 & 3.11
Resources:
The Great Wagon Pull: Engineering Design in the 4th Grade Classroom Slidedeck
LT Innovation Library | Check out a set of Spheros today!
Are you looking for hands-on and engaging projects and activities to spice up your curriculum? Contact the Learning Technologies team today learningtech@pps.net
Chimney Rock
Credits:
PPS Innovators Spotlight - Jessica Floyd